Racing UK park tanks on Post's lawn

Racing UK's parent company, Racecourse Media Group, is believed to have secured a significant shareholding in the newspaper Racing Plus. The paper, which is largely put together by editorial staff at the Press Association but features guest columnists including broadcaster Robert Cooper and ex-footballer Tim Sherwood, is printed every Saturday, but daily editions were also produced during past Cheltenham Festivals and the experiment is expected to be repeated.

No major changes are expected to the paper in the short-term, but readers can certainly expect it to see it on sale at RUK tracks in the near future. More significantly, the deal is unlikely to bring the on-going spat between RMG and the Racing Post, which began over data rights, to an end. Coincidentally or not, the sponsorship of the Racing Post Chase at the RMG track Kempton in February appears to have come to an end. The fixture is now billed as 'Chase Day' on the Kempton website.

Walker causes an upset

A section of the readership has responded with outrage to a blog that recently appeared on the BBC website from Matt Walker, the editor of BBC Nature's online section. Entitled Are Racehorses being bred to destruction? the piece reflects upon the death of Eight Belles in the Kentucky Derby and Rewilding at Ascot in July in the King George, an incident the author says he watched from the stands. Walker goes on to link the deaths to inbreeding in Thoroughbred racehorses, something he is not the first to attempt, even if the direct correlation is hard to prove. One reader described the piece as a "highly irresponsible masterpiece of tabloidism".

Teetotal Carberry was able to put pen to paper

Two racing books were revealed last week to have made it on to the six-strong shortlist for the williamhill.com Irish Sports Book of the Year – Tony McCoy's autobiography AP McCoy, written with Donn McClean, and Paul Carberry's One Hell Of A Ride, written with Des Gibson. Carberry's book is certainly an entertaining read, although the jockey admitted in an interview with At The Races on Friday that he's not a literary expert. "I haven't read a book in my life," he said. "I enjoyed putting it together though. Now that I'm not drinking it was a lot easier to do. If I was still drinking there's no way I could have wrote the book."

O'Brien team get the Abbey habit

Following St Nicholas Abbey's victory at the Breeders' Cup last month, the four-year-old's trainer and jockey, Aidan and Joseph O'Brien, received a warm welcome when they travelled on for a holiday in Barbados. The O'Briens presented the headcollar and rug worn by St Nicholas Abbey to the owners of the historic house of the same name in Barbados. Co-owners Derrick Smith, Michael Tabor and Sue Magnier are all frequent visitors to the island. "It's Sue's job to name our racehorses and every year she tries to name at least one of them after something in Barbados," explained Smith. "As islanders we spend a lot of time here and we just like to give what we can back."

Lambourn ready to welcome new Mayor

The apprentice jockey Leonna Mayor has her fair share of fans and those in the Lambourn area will be pleased to learn she has taken a new job in the town. Until recently, Mayor has been based with Dandy Nicholls in Yorkshire, but Mayor revealed on Twitter on Friday that she had accepted a new position as stable apprentice for Alastair Lidderdale, for whom she has been riding Know No Fear.

King rules the roost in Movember

Alan King was one of the most successful of the racing fraternity to raise money for Movember. In growing a moustache in November to gather funds for men's health awareness, in particular prostate cancer, the leading jumps trainer raised more than £3,000. But as soon as December arrived, it had gone. "I couldn't wait to get rid of it," he said. The trainer had, however, lasted a week longer than Channel 4 presenter Mike Cattermole. He had been forced to remove his tache prematurely when making a mess of attempting to trim it.

Stoute jinxed by not talking to Underwood

Acerbic writer James Underwood's annual is eagerly awaited by many in the racing and bloodstock world. The veteran scribe, well known for his letters to the Racing Post, has a novel reason for the lousy season endured by Sir Michael Stoute. Underwood hands his Naive Handler of the Year award to Stoute for "failing to talk to us about his horses for the first time in many years. The result was the Fates, who are always on the side of the deserving, put a dampener on them."